[Mg-t] Questionable Starter

[Bud Krueger]

Stu, it sounds as if the one item you need to check before you take the 
starter to be tested is the switch.  Take a heavy jumper cable and 
connect it directly between the ungrounded battery terminal and the 
starter terminal.  Be prepared for a bunch of thunder and lightning.  If 
that makes it spin over as it should, there's one more component to 
eliminate, the cable between the switch and the starter.  Connecting the 
jumper between the battery and the terminal on the starter switch should 
give you the same effect if it's the switch.  Good luck.

Bud Krueger

Stuart C. Keen, Jr. wrote:
> How do I test the starter in a TD? The starter turns the engine, but in slow
> motion - i.e. Lugging effect.
>
> 1) I have replaced the Optima battery with a new Interstate one with 700 amp
> cranking power.
>  
> 2) I have cleaned all electrical contacts between the battery and the
> starter. 
>
> 3) Since ground is often the culprit in a Lucas system, I ran a jumper cable
> between the battery ground and the starter, but this did not help.
>
> 4) I checked the starter brushes and their respective wires and all was
> okay. 
>
> The only two items left untested are a) the starter switch and 2) the
> starter itself. 
>
> The evidence is: When I try to start the TD, it lugs (thus my initial
> suspicion of battery or wiring problem). It appears to be zapping the
> battery (like overload) because if the XPAG engine does not start by the
> third attempt, there is not enough amperage to crank one more time.
>
> Then I tried to make a compression check. Each crank only built up the
> compression to 30 psi (in the old days it would virtually jump to 150).
> That's what I mean by slow motion. The highest it would climb was 90 psi (3
> cranks) and then the battery was too zapped to turn the engine anymore.
>
> I tried to minutely adjust the mount of the starter so not a tight meshing
> of gears between the starter pinion and flywheel (ring gear), but nothing I
> did helped. 
>
> I am suspecting a shorted field wiring or something like that in the
> starter, but do not know how to test in house.
>
> Thanks for any insight and suggestions.
>
> Stu Keen
> 1951 MGTD Mark II
>
> PS You might say I am now paying the price for insanely driving this 58 year
> old MG from Venice, Florida to Prince Edward island, Canada (5,604 miles
> round trip - 26.03 mpg, 8 qts of oil), arriving home a week ago. The starter
> problem began on the return trip, outside Albany, NY. Parking on hills and
> pushing were the methods of choice to start the TD. Kept ye old hand-crank
> in reserve.
> _______________________________________________